Connector back seal



Dec. 13, 1966 ou1 3,292,134

CONNECTOR BACK SEAL Filed March 31, 1964 Ava/m6 Mzazzrl. Maw/A4 5y Wm 42 M United States Patent 3,292,134 CONNECTOR BACK SEAL Norbert L. Moulin, Placentia, Calif., assiguor to Hughes Aircraft Company, Culver City, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 356,204 1 Claim. (Cl. 339192) This invention relates to an environmental seal for an electrical connector and more particularly to a seal for the wire side of the connector block to prevent impurities and other foreign substances from passing along the periphery or surface of the conductors to contaminate the contacts.

Often, when a connector block is mounted to a bulkhead or rack one side of the block, typically the wire side, that is the longitudinal side opposite to the side containing the exposed contacts is subjected to an environment containing a substantial quantity of contaminant material. Such material might be water vapor or air carried solids which, because of their size, tend to move along the periphery or surface of the conductors into the openings in the connector block and contaminate the contacts positioned therein. contamination the primary method was to pot or encapsulate the wire side of the connector block with epoxy or other similar materials. While this method substantially eliminated the contamination problem its use was not desirable since the permanency of the encapsulating material prevented later removal of the contacts.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having an improved device for environmentally sealing the wire side of the connector block.

A further object of the present invention is an improved environmental seal for the wire side of an electrical connector block which permits removal and replacement of the individual contacts retained within the block without damage to the seal.

Briefly, one embodiment of the present invention includes in combination with an electrical connector body and at least one electrical conductor, a sealing device including a flexible sealing member of a material such as rubber having at least one bore adapted to receive the electrical conductor. A retaining member having a cavity for supporting the sealing member is positioned in engagement with a portion of the electrical connector body and includes a securing means engageable with said electrical connector body for securing said retaining member to said electrical connector and for maintaining said sealing member in sealing contact with said electrical conductor.

Other advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the one embodiment of the present invention having a portion cut away to illustrate the flexible sealing member;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the flexible sealing member illustrating in cross section the configuration of one of the environmental sealing bores; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the present invention partly cut away to show in section the sealing member and retaining member secured to the connector block.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a multicontact electrical connector having a connector block 11 including a plurality of transverse bores 12 and in each bore an electrical contact element such as a conventional pin or socket. For illustration, in FIG. 3, a socket contact element 14 and a portion of an electrical conductor Heretofore, to prevent this.

"ice

15 is shown in one of the bores 12; however, it should be understood that a contact element may be contained in each of the bores 12. The connector block 11 generally includes a mounting means 16 having an aperture at each corner arranged for securing the block 11 by conventional means such as bolts or screws to a mounting rack or other structural member. A sealing member 18 -of a flexible deformable material such as rubber -or soft plastic having a plurality of transverse environmental sealing bores 19 is positioned in juxtaposition with a first side 20 or wire side of the connector block 11 by a retaining member 22. The retaining member 22 includes a cavity 24 of substantially the same dimensions as the sealing m'e'mber 18, and a plurality of bores 26 of such frequency and position that when the sealing member 18 is positioned in the cavity 24, the bores of both the sealing member 18 and the retaining member 22 are substantially coaxial and form a plurality of bores extending through both members.

As generally shown in FIG. 1 and illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 3, a hub 28 protrudes centrally from the retaining member 22 to receive the head of a captive tubular securing bolt 30 having a threaded shank portion 32 extending substantially to the edge of the cavity 24. The head portion 34 of the tubular bolt 30 includes a slot 36 extending slightly below the exposed end of the hub 28. The slot is of such a dimension that a tubular tool 36, FIG. 1, having axially projecting diametrically disposed tines (not shown) may be inserted therein to rotate the nut 30. It is to be understood that other tools such as a wrench or screwdriver may be used as appropriate.

In the preferred embodiment, the connector block 11 includes a central bore 38 which has retained within it by one end of a nut 40, having jamming threads, a tubular bolt 41 having at one end a plurality of keying slides 44 arranged to mate with a mating electrical connector (not shown). An aligning and securing device such as a threaded screw 42 having a long shaft 43 extends through the tubular bolts 30 and 41 and protrudes substantially beyond the exposed end of the hub 28. The long shaft 43 permits the threaded screw 42 to be rotated and the electrical connector 10 mated with its mating connector after the sealing device has been secured to the wire side 20 of the connector block 11. The shaft 43 may form an integral part of the threaded screw 42 or in the alternative may be a wrench mateable With an appropriate recess in the screw. To enable the retaining member'22 to be secured to the connector block 11, the other end of the nut 40 from that securing the aligning device is internally threaded to receive and secure the threaded portion 32 of the securing nut 30.

Referring now to FIG. 2, each of the bores 19 in the sealing member includes a first portion or aperture having internally extending shoulders defining a reduced diameter portion or central gripping ring 50 and a sealing portion 52 extending on both sides of the ring 50 to the edge of the sealing member 18. It is the function of the ring 50 to initially support the electrical conductor 15 ing internally extending shoulders defining a reduced when it is positioned in the bore 19; however, as the securing bolt 30 is rotated into engagement with the nut 40 the retaining member 22 applies a uniform distorting force to the sealing member 18 which causes each of the bores 19 therein to be distorted resulting in the flexible material of the seal-ing member 18 substantially flowing and conforming the sealing portion 52 around the periphery of the conductor 15 to provide a complete environmental seal against contaminants moving along the conductor to the contact element.

While one embodiment of this invention has been herein illustrated it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations of the disclosed arrangement both as to its details and to the organization of such details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, it is-intended that the foregoing disclosure and showings made in the drawings may be considered as illustrative of the principles of this invention and not construed in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

In combination with an electrical connector block hav ing a threaded portion and a plurality of bores each containing an electrical contact having an electrical conductor aflixed thereto, a sealing device comprising:

a flat flexible sealing member including a plurality of transverse environmental sealing bores each adapted to receive an electrical conductor and including an aperture having externally extending shoulders defining a reduced diameter portion for gripping said electrical conductor and a sealing portion; and

a rigid retaining member engaging and supporting said flat flexible sealing member and including a cavity of substantially the same dimensions as the flexible sealing member for containing said sealing member, said cavity having a rigid continuous end surface containing a plurality of bores each of such size to contain member, said retaining member and said electrical connector block are substantially coaxial, said retaining member also including a centrally located threaded member mateable with the threaded portion of said electrical connector block for drawing said retaining member towards said electrical connector block to compress said sealing member between said electrical connector block and said end surface of said retaining member to uniformly deflect each of said sealing portions into uninterrupted sealing engagement with a different one of said electrical conductors.

References (Jilted by the Examiner v UNITED STATES PATENTS EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

W. DONALD MILLER, Examiner. 

